A women who brazenly threatened to auction off Graceland ­– the former home of Elvis Presley and Memphis, Tennessee’s top tourist attraction – to the highest bidder has been arrested, halting a bizarre scheme in which she had claimed ownership of the property based on an allegedly bogus foreclosure.

Lisa Jeanine Findley, 53, was charged with orchestrating a scheme to defraud Elvis Presley’s family by trying to sell off the mansion before a judge halted the mysterious foreclosure sale, the US Justice Department said late last week.

The Missouri woman falsely claimed Presley’s daughter borrowed $3.8 million from a bogus private lender and had pledged Graceland as collateral for the loan before her death last year, prosecutors said. She then threatened to sell Graceland if Presley’s family didn’t pay a $2.85 million settlement, according to authorities.

Finley posed as three different people allegedly involved with the fake lender, fabricated loan documents, and published a fraudulent foreclosure notice in a Memphis newspaper announcing the auction of Graceland in May, prosecutors said. A judge stopped the sale after Presley’s granddaughter sued.

Experts were baffled by the attempt to sell off one of the most storied pieces of real estate in the US using names, emails, and documents that were quickly suspected to be phony.

Graceland opened as a museum and tourist attraction in 1982 and draws hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. A large Presley-themed entertainment complex across the street from the museum is owned by Elvis Presley Enterprises. The announcement of charges came on the 47th anniversary of Presley’s death at the age of 42.

“Ms. Findley allegedly took advantage of the very public and tragic occurrences in the Presley family as an opportunity to prey on the name and financial status of the heirs to the Graceland estate, attempting to steal what rightfully belongs to the Presley family for her personal gain,” said Eric Shen, inspector in charge of the US Postal Inspection Service Criminal Investigations Group.

Findley was charged with mail fraud and aggravated identity theft, a crime that carries up to 20 years in prison.

In May, a public notice for a foreclosure sale of the 5-hectare estate said Promenade Trust, which controls the Graceland museum, owes $3.8 million after failing to repay a 2018 loan. Riley Keough, Presley’s granddaughter and an actor, inherited the trust and ownership of the home after the death of her mother, Lisa Marie Presley, last year.

Keough filed a lawsuit claiming fraud, and a judge halted the proposed auction with an injunction. Naussany Investments and Private Lending – the bogus lender authorities now say Findley created – said Lisa Marie Presley had used Graceland as collateral for the loan, according to the foreclosure sale notice. Keough’s lawsuit alleged that Naussany presented fraudulent documents regarding the loan in September 2023 and that Lisa Maria Presley never borrowed money from Naussany.

Kimberly Philbrick, the notary whose name is listed on Naussany’s documents, indicated she never met Lisa Marie Presley nor notarized any documents for her, according to the estate’s lawsuit. The judge said the notary’s affidavit brings into question “the authenticity of the signature.”

The judge in May halted the foreclosure sale of the beloved Memphis tourist attraction, saying Elvis Presley’s estate could be successful in arguing that a company’s attempt to auction Graceland was fraudulent.

The Tennessee attorney general’s office had been investigating the Graceland controversy, then confirmed in June that it handed the probe over to federal authorities.

After the scheme fell apart, Findley tried to make it look like the person responsible was a Nigerian identity thief, prosecutors said.